"Everyone knows somebody that needs to read this book (Perseverance) !" –Kathie Lee Gifford, Live on NBC’s Today Show
"Perseverance offers… profound insight for all of us seeking to lead a meaningful life." –Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of A Whole New Mind
»More Reviews
Buy Perseverance
Your Greatest Work is Ahead of You
Nine Weeks. Nine weeks until my book is released. Just typing that sentence scares me. I never knew it would be this emotionally difficult.
I worked in isolation for four years. I rarely thought about this phase of the process. And if I did, I thought about it with glorious expectations.
I had the most beautiful project plans prepared for this launch. I created mind maps with my ideas and execution strategies; however, when it came time for all of this to occur — I was in graduate school. I had to focus on that experience and let the book out of my hands. With that I had to let go of those perfect projects plans. I never thought about the impact of this experience until a few days ago. And then it clicked — I realized that I wasn’t okay. I needed to recognize my feelings and really acknowledge them.
At the time, I was reading Throw out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke. One passage hit me like a ton of rocks. If you have the book, the excerpts below are from Chapter 10: The Phoenix Rises from the Ashes. [An Aside: If you don't have the book, I highly suggest you purchase it. Gail's unique perspective and friendly voice will change the way you look at "clutter" forever.]
A Fire
It doesn’t seem fair, but sometimes all our stuff has to be ripped away from us for us to let go… David Hoffman is a documentary filmmaker-one of the best-and he has spent a forty-plus-year career “recording stories,” as he puts it, about what he calls, “extraordinary/ordinary people.” His reality films-more than 125 of them- have been broadcast on prime-time PBS, Turner Broadcasting, The Discovery Channel, and A&E…. David lives and has his studio in the town of Bonny Doon, California, at the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in what is known as Big Tree Country. One morning not long ago, he’d left his house at the crack of dawn to drive to a meeting in the Silicon Valley over the mountains. At about 6:30 a.m., his wife, Heidi, called, screaming on his cell phone to tell him their house and David’s studio were on fire….
–> Before reading on, what is your first reaction when you read the paragraph above? Don’t think — just react.
My first reaction: I didn’t think about David’s career or his studio or even his house. My first thought: is everyone safe? Thank goodness his wife was awake. I didn’t think about anything besides that.
… Is that just our natural reaction when we hear that there has been a fire – almost like a reflex?
… Or is that reaction more telling of what we value in life?
The Ashes
The house, at least the shell of it, survived; but David’s studio – containing everything he’d created during his entire career as well as all the projects he was currently working on – burned to the ground. His film library and the original footage from forty-three years of work, his eight Emmys and other film awards and medals, his working documents, thirty-eight thousand pounds of data that had traveled with him through twelve different moves, everything, truly everything, was lost, all burned to ashes in just minutes….
–> Has your perspective changed after reading this excerpt? What is your immediate reaction after reading this text?
My perspective changed. David became the victim. I no longer thought of the fire, but focused on what was lost. The fire had not hurt anyone so I had moved my worry to the physical materials that were forever gone. Interestingly, I notice that if A is okay, then I move on to B, if B is okay, then I move on to C. I have a checklist of “values” and go from the top down in terms of what I worry about. So since everyone was okay, I moved onto worrying about the lost materials and how that would impact David.
… Does this type of thinking leave any room for a sense of calm?
David’s Reaction
At first, David was devastated. He sat down crying in the smoldering rubble and thought, There must be something I can salvage from this… “We pulled out negatives and prints by the thousands, all burned around the edges…. It was all gone. My entire creative history and the only financially relevant legacy I had to leave my wife and three children were completely destroyed.”
–> Have you ever felt like you were in a situation like this before? As if everything you had created were destroyed — all of your previous work became useless?
This is how I felt. I thought everything I had done — everything I had created — was all gone … destroyed. Nothing to salvage. I felt stuck in this place.
… Why is this not a good place to get stuck?
Now What? Making a Decision.
“I decided I had a new chance, a chance to start over, to do my greatest work, a chance I never thought I’d have. The fire dies; the Phoenix rises. I decided that this could be a thrilling period, that I could actually create new criteria for what was important in my life…. A year from now, I want to be able to say I would have chosen this fire.”
Like David, I decided that I needed to let the fire die so that the Phoenix could rise. I had to let go of the anger associated with the fire and the ashes. If not, how could I possibly move away from the past? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t be able to move forward — to grow.
Gail Blanke concludes the chapter with a powerful statement, “Know this: Your greatest work is ahead of you.”
• • •
Lots of thought-provoking questions in this post. I hope your reflection leads you to recognize what is necessary to rise from the ashes.
What are you moving away from?
What are you looking forward to?
Do you believe that your greatest work is ahead of you?
• • •
{Images via istockphoto.com, top image: sironpe; bottom image: shunyufan; Cover image via Amazon}
Related "ripples" you might enjoy:
- How to Find Joy at Work
- What Would You Take?
- Thank You!
- On a High Dive: Inspiration from Steven Spielberg & My Dad
- How to Motivate Yourself: 21 Quotes to Help You Refocus and Renew
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Perseverance, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
11 Responses to “Your Greatest Work is Ahead of You”
Leave a Reply
long time listener, first time caller. ;)
i think this is a really valuable point to make on many levels. reading this actually sparked (for lack of a better word) something for me, related to david’s situation. when i often think about my future career, and what i’m dedicating my life to (i’m currently writing my master’s thesis in international relations), i often come back to a hypothetical that i like to pose to people:
what if tomorrow, your entire house burnt down and you lost everything (people/pets not included) inside it? where would your life be?
you see, if you had spent your life in a career where your goal was to earn money so you could have the ‘finer’ things in life, you might be in the dumps. if your only focus in life was money and things…then your life would be destroyed. but, if your career goals are to make an impact on the world, and fulfill yourself otherwise…you’re in luck. it’s those intangible things–helping others, making the world a little better, etc. etc.–that survive any disaster. and i think that’s beautiful.
(now, david’s situation is certainly different…as his life’s work, which was creative and incredible was destroyed because he worked out of his home…but think of someone who had only worked to earn tons of money, cared about little else, and fulfilled themselves by buying stuff stuff stuff.)
as an added bonus, it’s also an extra reason to de-clutter your life. ;)
your post brings up really interesting points to ponder on many levels!
Twitter: WhenIGroUpCoach
says:
Isn’t it so interesting what perspective can do to a person? I was actually very surprised at the way David was able to look at this traumatic situation and see…an opportunity. I think very few of us could/would do that. And the comment that Krista made above is so true & so smart – your life should be built around the intangibles (love, experience, happiness) instead of “the stuff.”
I have to share with you, Carolyn, something that Jamie of Starshyne Productions left on my blog today. She said that “perfection” should be redifined as meaning “exactly how things are”. Screw the plans & the mind maps! Yes, they’re a helpful tool, but they aren’t the be all end all.
I know that your book launch will be a success, Carolyn – you are a success!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
I love Jamie’s definition of perfection: exactly how things are.
What a great way to re-evaluate what we value as “perfect!”
So powerful! I believe my greatest work is ahead of me when I am centered and present…it is only when I get caught up in my ego that I begin to worry I peaked long ago. Right now I am looking forward to my next book, which is still a very foggy idea, but coming into focus more each day.
The message behind this entire post is both empowering and a nice little reminder to believe in the bigger scheme of things. I think sometimes we get bogged down by the little things that are going on in our lives… the remember to do this, or pick up that, or finish that list of things to do… and we don’t allow ourselves to take a step back and appreciate the unknown that lies ahead.
When something so overwhelming and catastrophic happens to us, as did with David, it forces us to take that step back, evaluate where we stand, and where we’re going. I think it’s a very healthy process and shouldn’t take a bad event or scenario for us to do. Your ability to recognize this and try to do that for yourself is so impressive.
Oh, and by the way, as scary as the lack of control over the book launch is, the passengers usually enjoy the ride more than the inventor anyways. Your first book launch is going to be quite the roller coaster ride (apparently I know because I’ve published a book before?) and your letting go will probably make the process that much more fun!
Thank you. I am so happy I found this post. You gave me a lot to think about. -elin-
Wow, Carolyn this hit all the main points for me… to a dot! This happened with our wedding and my first book and all the perfect plans fell down. Rrr.. made me so mad! but there was always a followup that was more wing it! literally! and it did bring out the values! Now, I am reworking the new manuscript and love it! ;) just having the courage to finish it and keep that momentum .. as I read this today,I remembered the symbolism that resonates now for me.. I saw a robin today sitting on this fire post and I was thinking what did it mean! now I get it! This is the full circle. I live from one serendipity to another its just the way it works.. so this is so beautiful to be here and get the message.. that everything is definitely unfolding as it should! and to read of your book deal! Congrats! It seems that I can relate a lot to what you shared in your project and this comforts me so much! I am rising! ;) and living from my values also.
thanks for sharing this note! What an encouragement.. hugs, Jenn
Jenn´s last blog ..The Fun & Thrilling News On the Doorstep now! ;)
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Hi Kirsta,
Thank you for commenting! The first time comment is always the hardest (at least it is for me) :)!!
I love your hypothetical question. It is so difficult for people to just get to that first place of realizing what is important to them. We often go our whole lives not knowing until it is taken from us.
David’s situation for me left me wondering, “when do I stop worrying?” If we start with something big and catastrophic like a fire, I worry about the really important stuff – human lives. But then when I don’t have to worry about that, I go on to the next level: the value of David’s life work — how will that impact him? And then I’ll move on to the next level — so what is David going to do next? How is he going to just start over again? And so on if that makes sense!
But shouldn’t real “worry” be focused on what I value the most so that most of my time is spent “not worrying?”
Definitely lots of questions in this post that I am still left thinking about!
Thank you for your valuable input and perspective!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Being centered/present is so important for my mindset as well. I think that’s why I love yoga so much — it forces me to let go and retreat to what truly matters to me. I am so looking forward to your next book as well Christine :)!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Yay, Whit — you commented! And a long comment :). I wish I could be a passenger during the book launch! At least you’re on the roller coaster with me – so we’ll make it a fun roller coaster (filled with lots of coffee)!
Twitter: carolynr
says:
Welcome! Happy that you liked the post :).